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Title: IDENTIFICATION OF THE VOLATILE COMPONENTS OF E802 MAZOFERM STEEPWATER, A CONDENSED FERMENTED CORN EXTRACTIVE HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE TO THE MEXICAN FRUIT FLY (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE)

Author
item Lee, Chang Joo
item Demilo, Albert
item MORENO, DANIEL
item MANGAN, ROBERT

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/27/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: E802 Mazoferm Steepwater, a condensed fermented corn extractive, is highly attractive to The Mexican fruit fly. Previous field studies showed that E802 Mazoferm Steepwater trapped nearly 4 times as many Mexican fruit flies as NuLure, a commercial lure currently used for survey and control of this insect. There is considerable interest in E802 Mazoferm Steepwater because fruit flies are not only attracted to it they will also consume large quantities when it is presented to them. These properties make this corn extractive an ideal bait to control fruit flies when used in combination with a water-soluble toxicant or biocontrol agent. This study involved the identification of the volatile components that were emitted from the corn extractive. Nineteen volatile compounds were identified and among these were six alcohols, five esters, three aldehydes and two lactones. New studies are being conducted to determine the relative attractiveness of these volatiles to the Mexican and West Indian fruit fly. It is hoped that one or more of these compounds could be added to the corn extractive in higher quantities to enhance its attractancy. Information derived from this study will benefit scientists in their quest to develop more potent fruit fly lures as well as action agencies that are in constant need of new and highly effective tools to control fruit fly outbreaks that threaten the production and export of economically important crops.

Technical Abstract: A dynamic headspace analysis was performed on the volatile components of E802 Mazoferm Steepwater, a condensed fermented corn extractive, that is highly attractive in laboratory and field tests to adult Mexican fruit flies, Anastrepha ludens (Loew). Chemical characterization was accomplished by capillary GC and GC-MS methods. A total of 19 compounds were identified and these were comprised of six alcohols, five esters, three aldehydes, two lactones, an alkyl furan, an acid and a trisulfide. When E802 Mazoferm Steepwater was analyzed at pH 3.9, the five most abundant compounds in the volatiles (in descending order) were 3-methyl- 1-butanol (43.9%), ethyl lactate (23.7%), ethanol (15.4%), 2-methyl-1- propanol (12.8%), and ethyl acetate (0.71%). At pH 8.0, the same five compounds were again the most abundant. Except for a reversal in order for the first two compounds, the remaining order was the same; ethyl lactate (37.3%), 3-methyl-1-butanol (32.5%), ethanol (14.2%), 2-methyl-1- propanol (10.4%), and ethyl acetate (3.09%).